Girl Meets Talent
by Bunnygirl25
Summary: Riley enters Maya in the school's talent show, but Maya doesn't really want to compete. But when Riley brings a surprise for Maya to the talent show, Maya suddenly realises why Riley wanted her to enter in the first place. Joshaya story.
1. Chapter 1

**Maya's POV**

"Today is the best day of my life!" My best friend Riley exclaims when I meet her at her house in the morning before school.

"You said that about yesterday." I remind her.

"But today's better than yesterday!" She says, then pauses and looks at me. "You do know what today is, don't you?"

"Does this have something to do with your date with Lucas soon?" I ask.

After Farkle had revealed that Riley still liked Lucas, I stepped back again. Riley had said not to. She told me not to hide my feelings from her, just so she could have a good time. So I told them how I really felt. I told them everything that I had been thinking. That I had no idea how I felt about Lucas, but that I didn't like him in the same way I liked Josh. Riley had rolled her eyes, and asked me if I would ever know when to stop thinking that I could get Josh when he was three years older than me, but I replied that she was always the one who said not to give up hope. So it was resolved as quickly as that.

Later on, Riley told me that she thought she knew why I thought that she and Lucas were like brother and sister. She said that my mom couldn't pretend to be me, because we were too close, and that since she and I are the closest friends on this planet, I couldn't pretend to be her, and that I'd maybe got my feelings mixed up with what I thought were hers, which sort of made sense.

So Riley and Lucas were a couple now, and they had a date tomorrow.

"Well yeah, but no. That's tomorrow. But there's something happening today. Come on, Maya, guess."

I wasn't really all that bothered, since Riley could get excited about the smallest things.

"I honestly have no idea." I reply.

"It's the school talent show soon, and we're both going to be in it!" Riley says.

"As what? Riley, I can't do anything except art, and I can't do that in a talent competition, because it's not supposed to be like that, it's supposed to be entertainment. Painting is fun if you're doing it, but if it's watching someone paint, then that's not exactly the kind of thing people would really want to see."

"Why not?" Riley asks. "People go to art museums to look at paintings."

"It's just not the same. Forget it, Riles. You can enter, but nothing can make me go."

"Well, about that..."

"Riley, what did you do?" I ask.

"I entered both of us already, straight after the list went up after school."

"Seriously, I'm not showing up."

"Yes you are." Riley argued. "So, you don't have to paint, but you can sing or something."

"What's gonna make me."

"Ring Power." Riley said, holding up her ring and grinning.


	2. Chapter 2

**Riley's POV**

"Come on, Maya, hurry up." I beg, dragging my best friend off.

"Riley, we've still got ten minutes before we have to be there." Maya reminds me.

"But I want to be early so that I can show the judges my dance to show how excited I am!" I say.

"Are you sure that you want to enter this as a dancer?" Maya asks doubtfully.

"Of course I do, Maya."

"What type of dancing are you going to do?" Maya says.

"The same kind that I did when we were trying to save the creative arts." I reply.

"Riley, I'm gonna be totally honest. You won't win with that dancing. Every other dancer will have gone to proper dance classes and do stuff like street dance, ballet, and jazz, and you haven't." Maya says.

"Maya, I don't care about winning." I say.

"Then what's the point of even entering this competition?" She asks.

"I want you to win." I reply.

"Why?" Maya says

"Just wait." I say.

"Fine. Anyway, since you want to get there so early, let's go."

 **Maya's POV  
**

We go to the school hall, where auditions for the talent show are happening. If you get past that, then there's a bunch of rounds which people get eliminated after, until the final, where the winner will be decided.

The judges are sitting at a table. They are probably somewhere near ninth grade, maybe older, two girls, and two boys. One of the girls has wavy black hair, thick eyelashes, and is wearing makeup. The other has straight brown hair and brown eyes. One of the boys has blond hair and green eyes, and the other has black hair and blue eyes.

Each of them has a name on a card in front of them, kind of like the thing on Mr Matthews's desk. The black haired girl's name reads Alicia, the girl with the brown hair is Rosie, the boy with the blond hair is Will, and the boy with black hair is Jack.

Riley goes up to them and starts talking. She shows them her 'dancing' which is really just twisting her body into weird shapes and pulling faces. The judges smile politely, but when Riley runs back to drag me over, I can see them all chatting about her.

"This is my friend, Maya." Riley says, introducing me to the judges. "She's going to sing."

"Hey Maya." The one called Rosie says.

"Hi." I say.

"So, you like to sing, huh?" Alicia asks.

"Yeah, I can sing." I say.

"Cool. Do you wanna sing anything now, or would you rather wait until the auditions start to show us what you've got?"

"Maybe I should just practise my vocals right now." I say. After all, it seems important for Riley that I do well, so I might as well try, and looking round the room, I can see many people practising.

The doors open again, and I see Farkle, Lucas, Zay and Smackle come in. Riley rushes towards them, and I follow.

"What are you guys doing here?" Riley asks.

"I'm just here to support you, Maya, Farkle and Zay, and Smackle is too, since she doesn't go to this school, and she can't compete." Lucas says.

"Farkle? Zay?" I ask.

"I'm gonna put on a one man show, and I'm gonna be Pippin in it, no matter what I'm doing." Frazzle says, and I remember that he said something similar when we were saving art, music, drama, and creativity.

"I'm doing ballet. Like I've said before, I spend my time lifting beautiful girls. Ms Matthews, shall we dance?" Zay asks.

"Yeah, okay." Riley agrees.

I watch them fool around, dancing clumsily, until Riley accidentally makes Zay fall over.

"Oops." She says, helping Zay up.

"Guys, the auditions are about to begin!" Farkle reminds us, so we sit down as the first act is called up.

"India White." They call up, and a small girl with frizzy, ginger hair, stands up and does some ballet to a piece called swan lake.

"Thank you, that was a great performance." They say.

A bunch of people are called up, until it's finally Riley's turn, and she puts some music on and dances in her weird way. A few people start to giggle, but Riley doesn't seem to care. After that it's Farkle's turn, and he does some acting. Then Zay, and then it's me.

I sing a song called Seamless, which Riley and I picked out together a few days after she told me that she'd entered me in the competition. It's a song about friendship, so Riley and I knew that it was judges watch my performance, and when they clap at the end, it feels good, better than I thought it would be.

"Thank you, Maya."

When I go to join Riley, she smiles at me and tells me that I was brilliant.

"Thanks." I say. "But, anyway, since the auditions are almost over, why don't we head over to Topanga's and get some ice cream."

"All right." They say, and we head off, all of us feeling happy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Riley's POV**

"Maya! Help me!" I shrieked.

"What's it this time?" Maya asked.

"Talent show. Letter to see if I passed the auditions. Scared. Help please."

"Oh, you got a letter, from them. How come I didn't get one?" Maya asked.

"Because I've got your's here, because I stole it, because I didn't want you oppening it without me." I replied.

"Riley, you've known me your whole life. Do you really think I'd do anything without you when it means so much to you?"

"No." I sighed. "Just open it, please."

"All right."

She opened the stiff, golden envelope, and found five bits of paper.

"Okay, so, this one's the letter. It says,

'Congratulations! You have made it past the first round, and will need to come to the gym on Friday afternoon, for another trial, as well as to see which judge you'll be with.

The competition is measured in groups of age and skill, so there will be a few rounds against other people in your group, and then one overall round against the winners of each age group.

Before each round, you will be given 4, 5 or 6 tickets, depending on how many people you want to watch your performances.

Thank you for auditioning, please check the other sheets for which skill level you are placed in.' All right, lets find the age level 11 to 15." Maya said.

We looked, and saw Maya had been placed in the skill level 5, the expected age level for her. So had Zay. Then there were Farkle and me, who'd been placed in the skill level 1, which was supposed to be the age for 5-7 year olds.

"Yay, I got through!" I said excitedly.

"Riley, you're against five year olds, way down in John Quincy Adams kindergarten, and you're in the high school now." Maya said.

"Why do the kindergarten, high school, middle school and college all share the same name, just with kindergaten, high, middle school, and college at the end?"

"That's because all the schools are linked. And anyway, the university is called New York University, and the college isn't called John Quincy Adams, its something else."

"Then how come kids from the college and university can compete in the higher age group?"

"Because the jugdes are from there, but they used to go to John Quincy Adams high." Maya answered.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"I had to do something for the arts page on our school website, and it mentioned something about the talent competition there." Maya said.

"Okay, well, we've got to go to the gym on Friday, then, so what do we do now?" I asked.

"Well, I've got some art stuff to do, but I'll meet you at Topanga's later, right?" Maya said.

"Yeah, actually that's great, since there's some stuff I need to do." I said, and rushed off before Maya could ask me what. Because it was all part of my surprise plan.


	4. Chapter 4

**Josh's POV**

"I'm telling you, Josh, that kid was amazing." My friend Rosie tells me.

"What was her name?" I ask.

"It was something like May, but anyway, you should come and watch the talent show and see for yourself." She insists.

"Maybe, but there's one problem." I say. "I need someone to give me tickets, because I don't know where you can buy some, and besides, I'm saving up for a present for my nephew's birthday."

"I can help with that. And besides, haven't you got a niece who auditioned for the talent show?" Rosie asks.

"Riley got in?" I say in surprise, since Riley hasn't got much coordination.

"Yeah, sometimes we have a few ones who aren't that good, because people love watching them, and some like the underdog in a competition." Rosie says. "Not trying to be offensive to your neice or anything, but she isn't really amazing, not like that blonde haired kid. I think I might remember her name. It's Maya, I think."

"Maya? Maya what? What's her last name?" I ask.

"It's something cute, like Love or-"

"Hart?" I ask.

"Yeah, that's it! Why, do you know this Maya?"

oh, _she's only the girl who's loved me since Christmas more than two years ago, but I keep turning her down, and I don't know why._ I think, but instead I say that she's Riley's best friend.

Rosie leaves after a little while, but the name Maya Hart lingers in the air long after she's gone.

 _Why didn't I visit her on new year's_ eve _like I planned? Should I go to the talent show?_

Suddenly my phone rings, and it's Riley speaking.

"Uncle Josh, I wan't you to come to the talent show final. I'll give you a ticket and everything, but please come." Riley says.

OIt's like a sign, so of course I say yes, then we say bye.

 **Riley's POV**

When Friday comes, Maya and I are prepared. I picked out a song for her to siing, and some weird music for me to dance to, and we've practised a little bit, so we're good to go.

Maya steps on stage and starts singing, this time a song called White Flag.

" _Take, Take, it all away,_

 _Save my heart for another day,_

 _I'm up late on the telephone_

 _and I'm all alone with the dial tone._

 _Wait, Wait till the sun is up,_

 _drown my dreams in a coffee cup,_

 _Palms out, wanna beg for luck,_

 _but I'm way too proud, never giving up._

 _Oh, something's gotta happen,_

 _Something's gotta give, and something's got to break,_

 _I know, some day it's gonna happen,_

 _Someday it's gonna give, can't always be this way,_

 _And if the riptide comes to get me,_

 _and pulls me under, it won't upset me, I'll go down_

 _Oh oh oh oh oh oh_

 _I'll throw the white flag of surrender,_

 _knock me down, not forever,_

 _just for now_

 _oh oh oh oh oh oh_ " She goes on singing the whole song, and everyone claps her again.

All of the judges want her, obviously, but in the end, she goes with Rosie.

Each judge has to take three people from each skill group.

When it's my turn, only one judge wants me, but that judge is Rosie, so that's fine.

Farkle gets chosen by Will, one of the boy judges, but Zay gets chosen by Rosie like us.

We find out that each round will take place on a Friday after school, and someone will be voted out each week, from each category. We also learn that the judges will practise our acts with us every week on a monday or a wednesday, or both days if we want.

"So let's go find Lucas and Smackle, and tell them!" I tell the others. "Come on!" I say then I drag them off.

 **If you like this story so far, and you want me to keep updating it, please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you for the positive reviews on my last chapters! I will try to make the chapters longer from now.**

 **Maya's POV**

"You're just in time!" Riley says happily, as I climb into the bay window.

"For what..?" I ask since Riley didn't tell me we were doing anything.

"Well, I just found a new song for you to sing, and later on we're going to Farkle's, because he's got a hall with a stage in where we can practise, and Lucas said he'd come too, and Zay's gonna be there, and so is Smackle." Riley explains.

"Cool. So what's the song?" I ask.

"It's this one all about starting over." Riley replies.

We listen to the song, which reminds me of how I wish I could start over with Josh. I don't mention that to Riley, but she knows anyway, or at least, I think she does.

Later on, at Farkle's house (Which is so big that we got lost, and ended up in the ice skating rink instead of the stage room) we all start practising, and by the end, we are ready for Friday, and we decide that we'll hang out at Farkle's house for the rest of the day, and I ask Riley if I can sleep over at her house for the night, and she says yes, so when it gets late, we head home.

 **Later in the evening**

"Remember a few months ago, when you wanted to pretend to sleep over, and sneak out to the college party instead?" Riley asks.

"Yeah, of course I do."

"Do you think that those college girls did steal him?" Riley wants to know, and I obviously know that 'him' means Josh.

"Of course they would like him, he's great. He must like them too. He likes them so much that he doesn't visit his family on New Year's, and instead goes to a party that some of his friends, or possibly his girlfriend is throwing." I say, slightly bitterly.

"You don't know that he went to a party for sure, or that he has a girlfriend." Riley says.

"What else would he do?" I ask.

"Ok, fine, I see you're point. But does that mean that you've given up on him?"

"No, I haven't. I'm still in it for the long game. I still don't think I'm too young. And you're the one that tells me to always have hope, Riles." I say.

 **Josh's POV**

"I'm so glad you decided to come to the final, Josh! It's going to be amazing." Rosie says happily.

"Yeah, well, my niece did offer me tickets." I say. "I couldn't disappoint her."  
Maybe that's true, but it's also partly because of Maya. Because I have to talk to her, at least. Although she's maybe gotten over me by now. She's maybe got a boyfriend now. She might even hate me. But I will not talk myself out of it, I'll go, and I'll tell her that three years is the only reason, and it's maybe not even a big reason anymore.

 **Friday, After School.**

 **Maya's POV**

"I didn't know that Missy and Sarah auditioned." Riley says, pointing to the crowd of performers which we were about to join.

"Didn't you?" I ask, because I had. Missy was mean, but Sarah was often nice, and said hello. She was a singer too, whereas Missy was a singer and dancer.

"No. But anyway, never mind. The first official round is starting in five minutes, and it's my category on first!" Riley says, worrying, even though she said earlier that she didn't want to win.

"And, the first round of the Talent show begins now, with a person opening from the skill group one, who is...

Farkle Minkus!" The announcer says.

Farkle performs a short performance, called 'I'm taking over the world' which include a song to the tune of a song called '`Take on the world' but with different lyrics.

"I've _been waiting_

 _to take the whole world over_

 _Strike it with lightning_

 _And Maya Hart will be my wife_

 _Along with Riley Matthews_

 _I feel alright I'm gonna take over the world_

 _Rule all the stars and all the people who will_

 _Sing Yeah Oh Farkle, You are awesome_

 _Take over the world_

 _Take over the world_ " And so on, until the terrible version of his song ends, and he bows and says "Thank you, I am Farkle"

It's quite a lot of people's turns, including Riley's, before it finally gets to Zay, and then me.

I step out on stage, and start to sing...

" _Oh [14x]_

 _Cast out to sea_  
 _Drifting with the tide_  
 _And no way of finding me_  
 _Now that I'm free_  
 _Nothing but blue skies_  
 _Paradise in front of me_

 _Awake from this dream_  
 _I hold my breath and just believe_

 _Tired of all the troubles_  
 _They've been wasting my time_  
 _I don't wanna fight_  
 _Gonna leave it behind_  
 _Taking on faith_  
 _Now I'm ready to fly_  
 _I'm in the middle of starting over_  
 _Back to the beginning_  
 _Gonna hit rewind_  
 _Chance to do it over_  
 _Get it right this time_  
 _Life gives you pennies_  
 _Turn them into dimes_  
 _I'm in the middle of starting over_  
 _I'm in the middle of starting over_  
 _Oh [14x]_

 _Alone in a room_  
 _Tearing down the walls_  
 _Painting over scars and bruises_  
 _Now this is home_  
 _Fill it up with love_  
 _And make the best of something new, yeah_

 _As hard as it seems_  
 _I hold my breath and just believe_

 _Tired of all the troubles_  
 _They've been wasting my time_  
 _I don't wanna fight_  
 _Gonna leave it behind_  
 _Taking on faith_  
 _Now I'm ready to fly_  
 _I'm in the middle of starting over_  
 _Back to the beginning_  
 _Gonna hit rewind_  
 _Chance to do it over_  
 _Get it right this time_  
 _Life gives you pennies_  
 _Turn them into dimes_  
 _I'm in the middle of starting over_

 _The colors and the stars_  
 _Seem a little brighter_  
 _Tomorrow isn't far away!_  
 _Through the hardest part_  
 _I'm working towards a happy ending_

 _Tired of all the troubles_  
 _They've been wasting my time_  
 _I don't wanna fight_  
 _Gonna leave it behind_  
 _Taking on faith_  
 _Now I'm ready to fly_  
 _I'm in the middle of starting over_  
 _Back to the beginning_  
 _Gonna hit rewind_  
 _Chance to do it over_  
 _Get it right this time_  
 _Life gives you pennies_  
 _Turn them into dimes_  
 _I'm in the middle of starting over_

 _Tired of all the troubles_  
 _They've been wasting my time_  
 _I don't wanna fight_  
 _Gonna leave it behind_  
 _Taking on faith_  
 _Now I'm ready to fly_  
 _I'm in the middle of starting over_  
 _Back to the beginning_  
 _Gonna hit rewind_  
 _Chance to do it over_  
 _Get it right this time_  
 _Life gives you pennies_  
 _Turn them into dimes_  
 _I'm in the middle of starting over_  
 _I'm in the middle of starting over_  
 _Oh! [14x]_ "

And then I'm finished, and I get a standing ovation, and I feel wonderful, like I can do anything.

At the end, there are five minutes where parents all vote on the school website for who to go, and Farkle gets chosen from his category, A small girl with curly hair from the second category, a boy with a face like a hamster from category three, another boy in category four, Missy from our category, and a girl with short, black, spiky hair from the sixth category. Missy is obviously annoyed, and demands that the votes should be recounted, but they don't do that, and instead the show ends, and Topanga, Cory, Auggie, Smackle, and Lucas come over to hug me and Riley, and tell us that we did great.


End file.
